peach picking
by SebonzaMitsuki27
Summary: IchigoMomo. AU. Summer is a state of the heart.
1. apples

**I. apples**

—

Summer comes and goes in magic breezes and teasing touches. It promises many things, such as delusion and lazy days, flowers and pretty fireworks, illusions and sleeping in day after day. It makes the world seem a brighter place, breathing in warmth as rays of light explore the ground, seeping into the beautiful world. And there is rain; light sprinkling showers that make meadows glisten in moist perfection.

Summer is a dream that only lasts for so long.

And yet, once she appears in the cake shop wearing flip-flops, a pretty dress and an oversized hat… he kind of hopes that she's the kind of girl that lasts forever.

Preferably buying cake.

—

"I love you. I _really, really, really _love you."

Snuggle.

"Izuru, take a picture. I'm going to milk this for all it's worth."

Snicker.

"… um, snap, bang, crackle, pop?"

_Click!_

"I hate you guys."

Scowl.

"At least it's not as bad as Matsumoto. She'd have started groping you by now."

Chuckle.

"Hug me. _Looove_ me. Never—"

Squeeze.

"Get her off me!"

Growl.

"For the record, Ichigo, she's not usually like this. Actually, she's never done this before."

_Click!_

"Admit it – this is as much action as you're ever going to get."

Chuckle.

"Stop taking the damn photos, Kira!"

Glower.

"_You're_ my _best_ friend."

Smile.

"What about us, Momo? Me and Izuru! Aren't _we_ your best friends?"

Pout.

"I… jeez… you're my best friend too."

Pat.

"I knew it; _nobody_ can resist her puppy eyes."

Snigger.

"Renji!"

Frown.

"_Thaaank_ you, Usa-chan…"

Cuddle.

"So. You won't arrest us, or anything, will you?"

Mumble.

"Luckily, for you, no; as long as she doesn't—"

Mutter.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Izuru, get her off him."

Snicker.

"_G-Gomen._"

Tug.

"Don't leave me, Tora-chan… I love you. Who… are… you?"

Pine.

"Later, Ichigo. Have fun playing security guard."

Wave.

"_Hai, hai._ Enjoy the rides of Urahara themepark."

Smile.

"…"

Sigh.

"I hate this job."

—

She comes in a twirl, dancing to the lazy sway of her hips and the shimmer of her hair, stumbling to the tune of the bell that informs Kurosaki Ichigo that another customer has entered the shop of Shihouin Yoruichi.

Looking up, he gives a brief nod at the new customer, scribbling down the request that the current one wants.

… wait.

Wait just a _second._

Isn't that—?

"Uh…"

She bows before he has the chance to say something comprehensible, chocolate brown hair spilling down her shoulder like a waterfall.

"I am so, so sorry!"

—

Disclaimer: bleach. Not mine.


	2. bananas

**II. bananas**

—

Hangovers are terrible things.

But somehow, they just don't compare to Kotetsu Kiyone banging on the door relentlessly when a headache is about to set in. If anything, it makes the headache worse.

Especially since Kiyone _knows_ about what happened yesterday and how she reacted and that she _won't_ give up banging the door until she's been welcomed in. And she will not show disappoint if she is not offered tea.

Kiyone, girlfriend of Kira Izuru, is renowned for three things: her motto _carpe diem_, her _joie de vivre _attitude and her _intuitive_ nature to give certain people good kicks in the butt to get them moving in the right direction.

Plus a penchant for dares.

—

If Hinamori Momo could die anyway, it might just possibly be suffocating oneself by pillows.

Unfortunately two things prevent this from happening.

One, it's impossible for someone to suffocate their self – the closest they can get to death is being unconscious.

And two, Kotetsu Kiyone is dragging her away from her comfortable bed, and pillows and duvets, fresh with the latest gossip.

—

It wasn't supposed to be _him_!

_He_ was supposed to be the one-in-a-million person that she would meet once, and _never ever, again_.

Panic strikes and the reflexes kick in: instant bowing and apologizing, along with a flush rippling across her apple cheeks.

"Ah… stop. Stop." The orange-haired Tora-chan places a hand on her shoulder, brushing her curls off her shoulder. "Why don't I get you a place to sit down and we can take it from there?"

Maybe that's a good idea. Scratch that. It's a very good idea.

—

"So… mind telling me what yesterday was about?"

"Um… well." Biting the edge of her lip, Hinamori tucks a curl behind her ear. "Have you heard of Aizen Sousuke?"

Usa-chan's eyebrow arches. "Aizen Sousuke? The Aizen Sousuke who's a politician … he's part of the Diet of Japan, right?"

She nods. "Yeah. That's the one. I had a crush on him."

"Oh."

"… he's dead. Died yesterday. Heart attack." Perhaps she should stop twiddling her thumbs, but for some reason, she can't look at Tora-chan in the eye.

"Ah."

"Um. I became upset…" Easily translatable as: drank too much. "… and forgot that we were going to Urahara's Theme Park. So. Um. I think it _might _have been Renji's idea that said we should still go." Huh. There's a spider on the ceiling. She wonders if the spider is going join a Little Miss Muffet, who sits in a tuffet, and will frighten Miss Muffet away? "Which is how we met… as Izuru has the photos."

She didn't cry, but secretly, Hinamori Momo had hoped that the whole thing had been a dream. A splitting headache and Kiyone pounding on the door proved that thought was fruitless.

"He didn't delete them did he?" Offhandedly, Usa-chan remarks, looking at another customer.

"Nuh-uh." A quick shake of the head.

"Right. Well. That's… that's okay."

"So I wanted to apologize since I recognized you…" Standing up, she brushes her faded jeans, and shyly steps away from the chair. "… and I was just passing by."

"I see." Gruff, he clears his throat, joining her to the door. "Well. You're forgiven. Don't mention it."

"Great." Hinamori Momo smiles, cheeks glowing a faint pink. "So I never got your name…"

"Oh, it's Kurosaki Ichigo." Raking a hand through his hair, he manages a smile when he meets her warm eyes. "Why? What have you been calling me in your head?"

Momo's lips curve into a cheeky grin. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"And you are?"

"Hinamori Momo." The name rolls off her tongue like a verse of song. "I'll guess I'll be seeing you."

"Yeah…" Somehow, he can't resist _one _more smile, compared to his multitude of scowls.

Perhaps she grins for far too long, but it's catchy. Then she leans in, rising from the tips of her toes, and kisses him. Almost like a butterfly fluttering to a flower.

"Bye."

The door sings behind her.

A number of things happen after that.

—

First, someone screams. "_Spider!_"

Second, apple pie _a la mode_ flies into the air and lands on Kurosaki Ichigo's shirt.

And third, Shihouin Yoruichi, owner of the cake shop and girlfriend of Urahara Kisuke, is standing right behind him with the biggest smile on her face.

—

This is so being deducted from his pay check.

—


	3. cherries

**III. cherries**

—

This is _so_ not Notting Hill.

It's a last minute kiss that most likely didn't mean anything.

He's in a popular café; not a shoddy bookshop.

And her?

Well… Hinamori Momo isn't exactly a movie star. Though, to be fair, he doesn't know what she does or who she is. All he knows about her is that she's friends with Abarai Renji and Kira Izuru. And that wherever she goes, trouble follows. But since he's only met her twice, once drunk, once sober… should he really be quick to judge?

Aside from the kiss, there isn't much similarity from the movie.

Except for the roommates.

Loan sharks from hell. And friends of the family.

—

"He's a slacker!" Shihouin Yoruichi crows, one hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, the other holding a swirling glass of lukewarm wine.

"Caught him in the act, did you?" Urahara Kisuke sways, taking her with him, dancing to nonexistent music.

"Yep." The dark skinned lady grins, an evil catlike glint in her eye. "With a _girl_."

The couple exchange a look, mouth parted and eyes open.

"Liar!" Urahara gasps melodramatically; his hat levitating before falling back onto mussed flaxen hair. "Ichigo's bent!"

"For the last time…" Ichigo growls, painfully embarrassed, "I'm _not_ gay!"

"He admits it!" Yoruichi snickers, prodding the orange-haired boy's chubby cheeks. "He's gay! He's gay! He's gay!"

"Face it, Kuro-chan," Kisuke stumbles for balance as he grabs the nearest thing – his own arm – and nose-diving into the ground. "You made up a girl from Canada just so she could materialize and disappear when the time came!"

_This is ridiculous._ "What? You wanted me grab her, keep her in chains—"

"—and do many kinky things—" Urahara cheerfully smirks.

"—just so at the end of the day, you could meet her?" _Drunk? And out of your mind?_

At least they hadn't started the anecdotes yet…

"Yes!" Urahara says, posing like a superhero that has just contracted carpet burn. "_Why when I was a young warthog_…"

"_When he was a young warthog…"_ Yoruichi joins in, the both of them out of sync and out of tune; mixing the lines up.

Ichigo sighs. It's bad enough that the people he meets on the job are insane, some of the time and luckily, he never has to meet them again, but the people that he works for _and_ lives with are crazy. Very unreasonable. Hence the nickname: loan sharks. Even if one of them is a cake shop owner, and the other is a theme park owner; the both of them are minions of evil and worthy of the title.

They're even more demanding when tipsy, a frequent occurrence in the apartment.

"Don't be mad, Ichi-chan…" They both say, more of a chorused whine than anything else. "Don't you know either one of us could have been your parents? It only makes sense that we're your godparents…"

Kurosaki Ichigo doesn't care if – in the days of the old – when Masaki and Isshin and Yoruichi and Kisuke were good friends in university, it _might _have happened. He doesn't care about the past.

What he cares about are two _responsible_, _hard-working_ adults, who he actually _used to look up to_ are lolling around on the carpet, giggling crazily, absolutely drunk out of their mind purely, _purely_ to annoy him.

"And hey, look on the bright side! I has two tickets for concert that you likes!" The dark haired woman purrs, _actually_ purrs like a kitten that's scratching nails on the chalk board.

_I should have never introduced her to lolcats…_ Ichigo, yet again, represses another sigh. The past can't be helped.

"Takes the girl to sees them…" Kisuke joins in, _meowing._ "Precious, my precious…"

_Darn Andy Serkis and his Gollum inspiration._

At least Urahara Kisuke hadn't attempted to cough up fur balls yet. It's not much, but it's something.

"Okay. Say, hypothetically, I take this girl out – where are the tickets?" In order to get a straight answer, some loss of dignity is required. And if he can scream buck naked and streak across the field when he was nine years old (all to impress the girl of his dreams and to show that he _can_ do it _and_ get a pocky stick) in front of all the parents in sports day (and Isshin was _so _proud), then surely he can do this.

Wonderful. Talking to drunk people is absolutely pointless as they can stare forever until the apocalypse is nigh, with a smile that doesn't quite make sense.

This is also known as rambling.

"… top draw… above the pestilence… and eggnog… below… cannonballs made of chocolate. Aha! The big spooky draw that creeps you out." Yoruichi says, using Kisuke for support for standing up, finding another bottle of wine.

Her babble is all very vague and mysterious.

But there's no helping them now. Salvation was never an option for them.

"Right. Fine. Have it your way. Get drunk and… whatever." Ichigo scowls, deeming it a lost cause, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning away to find his room.

Just in time.

"Striptease!" Yoruichi cheers happily, Kisuke at her toes.

"_Yay!"_

—

The tickets are expired.

Figures.

—


	4. dates

**IV. dates**

—

There's nothing like taking out your frustrations during golf.

There's nothing like talking to your friends during golf.

And there's nothing like breaking the rules and aiming at other people during golf.

—

_Wham!_

"So, you kissed Ichigo?" Renji bluntly states, as he misses the man with the red scarf.

"Nice shot." Hinamori Momo says, careful not to let the sun in her eyes. "Mm. Kiyone-chan dared me, though."

"To kiss _Ichigo_?" Izuru pointedly asks, somewhat disapproving.

_Whack!_

"Well… more like to kiss the cute guy in the store… who _turned out _to be Ichigo-san." Momo corrects him, a slight flush rising to her cheeks, and sighing as she realizes that her golf ball has hit a tree instead of the intended target – a cloud.

"Uh-huh." Renji clucks his tongue, strangely reminiscent of a mother hen at that moment. "And you like him."

"Um, I wouldn't say—"

"Momo, the last time you dated someone, it ended badly. So, you decided to like unattainable guys. Like… Hisagi Shuuhei. Who had a girlfriend at the time. And is a movie star. And Aizen Sousuke. Who is now dead." Izuru Kira feels compelled to mention, quite aware that Momo is getting flustered. "I have Kiyone-chan, Renji has Rukia-san. You have…"

_Whoosh…_

"… you know, Izuru-kun, you should really improve your swing. A few millimetres compared to damage control…" Lightly reprimanding him for mentioning her failed relationships and ones that were never meant to be, Hinamori looks away. "Anyways, I have you two. You're my best friends!"

"Right… and yet, you were _clearly_ ditching us _and_ confessing your love while snuggling up to Kurosaki 'Usa-chan, Tora-chan' Ichigo." Renji snickers.

"I was drunk, and that was my first time in meeting him." Momo protests, cheeks heating up.

"Okay. The first time you meet, you confess. The second time you meet, you kiss. And you say you don't like him?" Izuru teases gently.

"Well, maybe a little?" The petite girl admits, giggling as Renji turns several shades of vermillion and brutally hits the golf ball.

_Thwack!_

Oh dear, the man in the chequered hat is not going to be happy when he wakes up with a concussion and disorientation.

"Should I say, 'no, not at all; how shall I prove it to you, oh wise man'?" Arching an eyebrow, she amends her statement, her flattery useless. For a moment, she wonders if she should call the paramedics or something.

"… possibly." Renji grunts, scratching his head.

Izuru snorts. "Has it occurred to you that we might be a menace to the golfing society?"

"I sincerely doubt it matters."

_Thump!_

"It fell into the lake. Cool." Momo grins, watching the water ripple.

Two of them are avoiding the subject; one of them is mildly frustrated.

And all three of them are quite content to leave the matter behind them.

_Tap…_

—

Kurosaki Ichigo is not amused.

"First, I have to work for you, in order to live for you. And now I have to do _favours_ for you, because you can't be bothered to do it yourself?" He groans, sensing an incoming migraine. "And to think, I used to admire you…"

"Nya!" Yoruichi sticks her tongue out. "You should know by now, Strawberry, that we're only going to use that admiration against you. Besides," a twinkle glimmers in her catlike eyes. "Do this, and we'll pay for this month's rent."

"You promise?" Warily, Ichigo asks. He won't believe them, no matter what the answer is.

The sad part is that he'll have to do their 'dirty work' anyway.

"Promise!" Kisuke easily lies, not feeling guilty for even a second.

—

"Name?" Kyouraku Shunsui says, yawning slightly, a glass of liquor in his hand.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Reluctantly, Ichigo scowls, jaw setting.

"Reason for being here?" If the orange-haired boy squints, he might just notice that the elderly man's ears have perked, and eyes have begun to sparkle.

"…"

"Sir?"

"… I'm here on behalf of Shihouin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke, who—"

"Aha! So you're the _wonderful_ person who is here to take my burden away!" The empty contents of the liquor glass have quickly been replaced. Empty one second and full the next. "Give my gratitude to Kisuke-kun and Yoruichi-chan!"

And he merrily skips into the sunset; or something similar, since Ichigo only sighs heavily, taking no more notice of him.

"First task is to rid the golf pitch of the three devils!" The man calls, far, far away. "After you do that, Kiyone-chan will tell you what to do."

Ichigo hasn't started the 'job', but this is definitely bad karma.

There's no sunset, but Kyouraku Shunsui is _definitely _skipping.

Ichigo wouldn't be surprised if the two loan sharks joined him.

—

"_Kanpai!" _Three very happy people cheer.

—

It takes a while, but being protected by a golf-cart (that has a roof and glass windows), is a sure way of getting to the devils without being knocked unconscious.

The 'three devils' turn out to be _very _familiar people, one of which, after giggling, attracts his attention by shouting:

"_I want to have your babies!_"

There's a small possibility that she was actually trying to sing a song; but judging by the tone of voice, and how quickly _her_ face changes from amusement to embarrassment; there's a higher chance that it isn't.

No doubt about it: Hinamori Momo is an interesting girl, quirky, but it works.

And trouble follows her as easily as bad luck does for him.

Renji guffaws. "What the heck are you doing here, Ichigo?"

"Work." Gritting his teeth, Ichigo eventually answers. "Sadly. Apparently, I'm to evict three demons? One of whom, doesn't actually cause damage?"

"Ah. There's a reason for that—" Kira Izuru begins, stiffening a little.

"… accidents happen." Hinamori Momo offers a smile, tipping her hat at him.

"Intentionally." Renji grunts, not helping the situation.

"… maybe." Hinamori Momo agrees, cheekiness visible in her dimple.

It takes a while for Ichigo to get his head around this, taken away by the prettiness of her smile.

All he can say is this:

"Why the hell are you guys in a golf club?"

Slowly, each one comes to a conclusion, blinking like rabbits caught in a headlight.

"Fun?"

"Lowering blood pressure?"

"Maintaining Renji's stress levels?"

The last one sounds the most plausible.

—

The first time they meet, she confesses.

The second time they meet, she kisses him.

The third time they meet, she tells him that she wants his babies.

Huh.

What a great start to a relationship.

—

"… stupid dare." Momo mumbles to Renji. It was _his_ idea…

And she can never resist dares, unless she has a problem with it…

This usually occurs as a consequence of her action.

—

"Tell you what: you grab Momo, head back; and we'll find a way for you to escape… 'work'." Renji claps his hands, acting businesslike, knowing when to take advantage of a situation, while making a getaway. "Tell 'em that a rogue golf ball got you."

"How are you—"

"Izuru's got friends in high places." Renji pats his friend's shoulder, ignoring the stutter and blush. "That's all you need to know."

And with no sense of tact, he pushes Momo into Ichigo's waiting arms, grabbing Izuru and running off.

"… hi." Momo squeaks, straightening her dress and stepping back, once she slips onto her flip-flops once more and regains her balance.

—

Checklist for a summer girl:

An oversized hat, a pretty dress, and flip-flops.

It might not be in cake shop, but when you've found someone you like, does it really matter?

—

"Will you go out with me?"

She looks the left, looks to the right, inclining her head in a debating manner, light-heartedly.

As far as the eye can see, Renji and Izuru are hidden from sight. As blessings, they might be armed with artillery by now.

Then she grins, and her answer's as bright as the sun.

"Sure!"

—

And maybe he's being too hasty, maybe he's not.

But he's got this great girl, in front of him – and, hey, he doesn't know her that well, but that's alright, they've got all the time in forever, warm as a summer breeze. He'll come to know her, tease her and argue, kiss her and hold her hand, laugh and fight, tumultuous as summer rain.

He likes her, and that's enough.

After all, if summer is a state of the heart, who says it can't last forever?

Seasons come, and seasons go; but the heart remains unchanged.

—

**a/n.** _It's been fun writing this; thank you for reviewing, favouriting and alerting. I hope you enjoyed it._


End file.
